If you don’t know what an SSL certificate is it’s possible that your site and information are a bit behind the rest of the world. And this is definitely not a good place to be in a world that’s constantly changing! So, if you feel your search engine rankings are going down as do the number of monthly visitors and online clients, it is time to make sure your site (or sites) is up to date with the latest SSL certificate settings.
The SSL certificate (or Secure Sockets Layer) is designed to make your website more secure and it is one of the many criteria Google considers when it calculates your site’s ranking. The main thing such a certificate provides is an extra layer of security, creating an encrypted link between the server where your site is hosted and your visitors. This makes the data passed between the two computers more secure than when you’re using a simple HTTP connection that can be easily snooped on.
So, if you have pages where your visitors must introduce sensitive information like credit card numbers or login details, an SSL certificate is a must.

Why is it so important to upgrade to an SSL certificate?

The idea of such a certificate is not new but starting with January 2017 (Google released Chrome version 56), the search engine treats sites using HTTPS (or SSL certificate) differently. Thus, if your site is not running HTTPS, you will see a big, easy to see message, notifying users that your page is not secure.

Now, this is only a warning, but it is a powerful message that makes most of the people visiting your site to turn around and try another site. This means you will be losing customers even if your site is quite secure.
Even more, you will be slowly losing your Google rank and this can mean the end of your business as you know it. This is even more important if you run an online store or your sell services that can be purchased online, via your site. For instance, would you buy from a site whose login page looks like this?

Keep in mind: if your site doesn’t have HTTPS, all users with Chrome version 56 and higher will see the “Not secure” message on pages that require login of financial data. This is confusing and many people will stop using your site just for this.

Implementing a secure connection

If you don’t want to lose your search engine ranking and you want to show your customers you care about their online safety, it’s time to consider implementing an SSL certificate. Once you do this, your pages will display this message:
To implement an SSL certificate, you should first get in touch with your hosting or domain name provider where you will be charged a fee. Google offers some details on how to enable HTTPS on servers but the explanations may seem too complex for a non-technical person.
SSL certificates vary in price (starting with about $40 per year) and they need to be renewed yearly. For about $40 per year you will get a very basic SSL certificate that will only be applied to one URL (e.g www.onsitehelper.com). So, if you have subdomains (like blog.onsitehelper.com) you want to purchase a wildcard SSL which will cover your entire domain and subdomains. These are typically $200+ per year.
Keep in mind: some premium SSL certificates may also come with a warranty offering hundreds of thousands of dollars if a hacker intercepts your SSL encryption and you lose money because of this.

Onsite Helper is one of the companies that offers high-quality  SSL certificates solutions for its hosting clients. For your security, we use Comodo SSL because this is the provider that offers the strongest 2048-bit next generation SSL certificates.
Call 1300 889 839 or email [email protected] to find out more.
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